propaganda

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

n. The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.

n. Material disseminated by the advocates or opponents of a doctrine or cause: wartime propaganda.

n. Roman Catholic Church A division of the Roman Curia that has authority in the matter of preaching the gospel, of establishing the Church in non-Christian countries, and of administering Church missions in territories where there is no properly organized hierarchy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. A concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of large numbers of people.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

n.

n. A congregation of cardinals, established in 1622, charged with the management of missions.

n. The college of the Propaganda, instituted by Urban VIII. (1623-1644) to educate priests for missions in all parts of the world.

n. Hence, any organization or plan for spreading a particular doctrine or a system of principles.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

n. A committee of cardinals (Congregation de Propaganda Fide, ‘for propagating the faith’) which has the supervision of foreign missions in the Roman Catholic Church.

n. Hence Any kind of institution or organization for propagating a new doctrine or system of doctrines, or for proselyting.

n. Systematic effort to propagate or win support for a theory or method of action.

Etymologies

Short for New Latin Sacra Congregātiō dē Prōpagandā Fidē, Sacred Congregation for Propagating the Faith (established 1622), from ablative feminine gerundive of Latin prōpāgāre, to propagate; see propagate.

(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

From New Latin propāganda, short for Congregātiō dē Propagandā Fide, "congregation for propagating the faith", a committee of cardinals established 1622 by Gregory XV to supervise foreign missions, and properly the ablative feminine gerundive of Latin propāgō ("propagate") (see English propagation). Modern political sense dates from World War I, not originally pejorative. (Wiktionary)

Examples

Until recently the most famous historical use of the term propaganda made it synonymous with foreign missions.

One of the first big Hollywood stars to play in a Chinese film and promote it, Bale, who won an Oscar this year for his role in "The Fighter", said anyone who used the word propaganda to describe Zhang's film would be wrong.

It's no accident that he wants media present at his trial: He has now entered what he calls the propaganda phase of his campaign, in which he imagines he will be given "a stage to the world" through which he can win over "tens of millions of European sympathizers and tens of thousands of brothers and sisters who support us fully and are willing to fight beside us."

LEVIN: They see themselves as lone wolves operationally, but they see themselves also as part of an umbrella entity of leaderless resistance, where they commit an act of violence, which they call propaganda of the deed.

LEVIN: They see themselves as lone wolves operationally but they see themselves also part of an umbrella entity of leaderless resistance where they commit an act of violence which they call propaganda of the deeds.